Delivering mission-critical systems

Monday 28th April 2014, 6:30 pm.

Speaker: Colin Butcher CEng, FBCS, CITP.

Venue: Room 4.31, University of Edinburgh Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB.

Refreshments and networking from 6:00 pm.

This event is free of charge and open to all. No registration required - just turn up.

Synopsis

The design and implementation of highly available disaster-tolerant and mission-critical systems requires a more disciplined approach to systems engineering than is common in the IT industry. In these days of pervasive IT systems delivering all sorts of functionality and applications, almost every system is mission critical. For example, some years ago, who would have thought of e-mail or administrative systems as being mission-critical? The uncomfortable reality is that such systems are now regarded as genuinely mission-critical, as demonstrated by the recent news about a patient dying as a result of a system failing to book vital check-up appointments.

To successfully design and deliver mission critical systems it is important to have a sound understanding of the technology as well as the ability to provide technical leadership and communicate effectively in order to see the project through to successful completion. This seminar will cover some of the major issues involved in delivering mission-critical systems. Come along and join in the discussion.

About the speaker

Colin Butcher is an international consulting engineer who specialises in the design and implementation of mission-critical and disaster-tolerant systems. He has an engineering background, which gives him a thorough understanding of the importance of the usability and reliability aspects of computer systems. Colin has been responsible for the architectural design, implementation and management of several major projects, including satellite control, air traffic monitoring, finance data and national healthcare infrastructures.